ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Ministry in Christian Ministry
D.Min. credential
Build on your ministry experience through an advanced professional doctorate connecting theological reflection with renewed practice.
Doctor of Ministry in Christian Ministry: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$24,900.00
$649.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$149
Doctoral Degree
2026 Life in Christ Grant is active
Ministry Experience, Evaluated Against Academic Standards.
Documented prior learning may be considered when it aligns with program outcomes; every credit decision follows academic review.
Program Overview
About this program
The Doctor of Ministry is for experienced leaders researching their own practice at doctoral level. The D.Min. is for people already doing the work who want to research it properly. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University pathway covers advanced practical theology, rigorous analysis of your own ministry context, practice-based research methods and their ethics, leading change, programme evaluation, and a doctoral project that intervenes in a real ministry and reports what actually happened.
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Recognition of demonstrated learning in theology and ministry
Experienced ministry practitioners demonstrate competencies developed through years of service, theological study, and continuing learning. The assessment connects that learning with the published outcomes of the Doctor of Ministry in Christian Ministry through biblical understanding, theological reflection, research, and ministry judgment.
70
Audited questions in this pathway bank
30
Questions drawn for each sitting
60 minutes
Time available for the knowledge component
24 hours
Interval before reassessment
Theological knowledge and degree outcomes
- Published bank title
- Doctor of Ministry: Christian Ministry - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) in Christian Ministry
- Question construction
- 14 pathway subject-bank sources contribute 5 questions each, producing the complete 70-question bank.
How completion is reported
- The knowledge component contributes 40% and assessed ministry experience contributes 60% to one weighted result.
- The reported result is no lower than 80%, matching the 80% degree pass mark.
- Reassessment draws a fresh question set and is included in program access, with no additional fee or limit on sittings.
- The integrated assessment covers the published degree plan; separate course assessments, a capstone paper, and a dissertation defense are not required.
Program Objectives
What you will achieve
Integrate advanced theological inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
Reason theologically about ministry practice at doctoral level
Describe a ministry context accurately before intervening in it
Design and carry out practice-based research ethically
Report findings honestly, including results that disappoint
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Produce a rigorous analysis of your own ministry context
Design a doctoral project with question, intervention, and evaluation plan
Carry out practitioner research within an approved ethical framework
Write research findings in a form practitioners can act on
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Senior pastor
Ministry executive
Denominational leader
Doctoral-level ministry educator
Major Subject Areas
The fourteen subjects you study, and the ones the ministry assessment draws on
Foundational and Major-Core Subjects
Four foundations every pathway shares, then four that belong to this field.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Interpretation
Exegesis at the standard a doctoral ministry argument requires, where the text has to bear the weight placed on it.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament as a resource for practical theology, particularly its material on leadership, covenant community and failure.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on the church's practice, read as evidence rather than as a set of proof-texts for present preferences.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
Doctrine as it operates in ministry decisions, including the gap between what a congregation confesses and what it actually assumes.
Doctoral Seminar: Practical Theology
Practical theology at doctoral level, covering the main theoretical accounts and the relationship between theological claim and ministry practice.
Doctoral Seminar: Ministry Context Analysis
Analysing your own ministry context, covering data, history, culture, power, and the discipline of describing what is there rather than what you assume.
Doctoral Seminar: Practice-Based Research
Practice-based research, covering the methods available to practitioner-researchers, their limits, and the ethics of researching your own community.
Doctoral Seminar: Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership examined critically, covering the evidence for it, its theological assessment, and the ways the language obscures power.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Ministry Change
A theology of ministry change, covering what may be changed, what may not, and the grounds on which that judgement is made.
Doctoral Seminar: Doctoral Project Design
Designing the doctoral project, covering question, intervention, evaluation, ethics approval, and feasibility within an actual ministry.
Doctoral Seminar: Program Evaluation in Ministry
Evaluating ministry programmes, covering indicators, data collection, attribution, and the honest reporting of results including null ones.
Doctoral Seminar: Scholarship for the Church
Scholarship in service of the church, covering the writing of research for practitioners and the obligation to make findings usable.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The practitioner-scholar's formation, and the discipline of researching a community you also lead.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
The doctoral project: question, intervention, evaluation and a written argument that reports null results as honestly as positive ones.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Master's degree in theology, ministry, or a relevant field from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official graduate transcripts demonstrating advanced academic preparation
- Research statement identifying a proposed area of theological or ministry inquiry
- Scholarly or ministry-focused writing sample
- Current curriculum vitae documenting relevant research, church, or ministry leadership experience
- Three ministry or academic recommendations and a faculty interview
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Doctor of Ministry
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 60 doctoral semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every doctoral-core, research-methods, specialization, elective, and Competency-Based Ministry Assessment requirement group
- Integrate theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience under the published result-weighting policy
- Recognize demonstrated learning against every published degree-plan requirement
Culminating Experience
Demonstrate doctoral-level theological synthesis, research judgment, and ministry leadership through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, combining theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Doctoral Core | 24 | 8 courses. Doctoral theory, disciplinary foundations, and scholarly leadership. |
| Research Design and Methods | 12 | 4 courses. University-wide doctoral preparation in quantitative, qualitative, measurement, and research-ethics competencies. |
| Area of Specialization | 15 | 5 courses. Focused doctoral inquiry supporting the learner's research agenda. |
| Doctoral Elective | 6 | 2 courses. Any doctoral-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated doctoral theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 60 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
60 credit hours
Up to 30 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
20 courses
Across 5 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Doctorate
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Christian Ministry Degree?
Applying costs nothing, and the work you have already done may count. Have a look at what this pathway asks for before you decide.